Best New Blue-Chip WeHo Gallery (2012)

Blue-chip dealer Matthew Marks is known as a class act in New York, where Marks made his name, so it was a big deal when he decided to open shop on the Left Coast, in a building designed by Peter Zellner's firm. He did it his own way, choosing a funky, off-the-beaten path location next to an Orthodox Jewish mortuary in West Hollywood and commissioning artist Ellsworth Kelly to create a sculpture for the façade. The interior space is a surprisingly intimate, naturally lit showcase for the gallery's artists, who include such big-time art-world players as Ken Price, Charles Ray, Nan Goldin, Robert Gober and Jasper Johns. Marks is reticent about his plans for the new gallery, preferring to feel things out, but we can be sure he'll keep adding a dash of understated class to the L.A. art landscape. 1062 N. Orange Grove, W. Hlywd. (323) 654-1830, matthewmarks.com/los-angeles.